U.S. Army Capt. Joseph Clausing of the Joint Multinational Readiness Center Warhog Observer Coach Trainer Team discusses mission information with British soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers while conducting a back brief during exercise Allied Spirit VII at the U.S. Army’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, Nov. 5, 2017. Approximately 4,050 service members from 13 nations are participating in exercise Allied Spirit VII at 7th Army Training Command’s Hohenfels Training Area, Germany, Oct. 30 to Nov. 22, 2017. Allied Spirit is a U.S. Army Europe-directed, 7ATC-conducted multinational exercise series designed to develop and enhance NATO and key partners’ interoperability and readiness. (Courtesy of the U.S. Army/Spc. Nathaniel Nichols)

HOHENFELS, Germany — “The importance of Allied Spirit is to bring our NATO partners together in a cohesive exercise where we can test and exercise our alliance together to prove interoperability, have situational understanding, learn tactics and maneuver, and increase our ability to integrate these forces to work together as a full team,” said Brig. Gen. Jeff Smiley, the deputy commanding general of the 40th Infantry Division, California Army National Guard.

The Allied Spirit VII exercise is taking place at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels Training Area, Germany, from Oct. 30 to Nov. 22, 2017. There are approximately 4,050 participants from 13 nations: Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The three-week exercise integrates different forces into one multinational brigade, with Lithuania taking the lead as the higher command during the exercise. Lithuania provides mission command of fire support, offensive, defensive and stability tasks, while concurrently operating a command post exercise at the Warfare Training Center in Nemencine, Lithuania.

“It’s very important for us to train together with our partners,” said Col. Arturas Radvilas, the commanding officer of the Lithuanian army’s Motorized Infantry “Griffin” Brigade. “For us, this is the most important thing because it’s a multinational exercise.”

In the first week, the participating nations used their time wisely getting to know each other’s procedures, capabilities and systems by exercising specific war fighting objectives like improvised explosive device awareness training, route clearance, and vehicle recovery. Some of the other training objectives included media engagements, civilian-military integration, medical training, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense.

This integrated training was an invaluable asset for the California Army National Guard unit to take home, as the Soldiers don’t often receive many opportunities to train with allied partners, said Smiley. The Guardsmen were also able to bring a different perspective to the exercise, as they have a lot of experience with joint interagencies.

“We have a lot of experience in working with law enforcement, fire services, local government, and county and state governments,” said Smiley. “Well, those experiences really play out very well over here in this complex environment where we get to interface.”

After the week of refresher training, the units familiarized themselves with the training area by moving into their fighting positions as they prepared for the main exercise days to begin.

“It was totally different from what we normally do because most of our training is conducted in Canada on wide-open prairies,” said Lt. Col. Jez Lamb, the United Kingdom’s 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment Fusiliers, who were first-time participants in Allied Strike. “But here, maximum ranges are about 50 meters, so it’s very close. We can’t form nice open formations, so the whole thing is totally different.”

After familiarization with the terrain of Hohenfels Training Area, and understanding everyone’s involvement and capabilities, the Fusiliers and the rest of the multinational brigade were ready to take on the opposing forces.

Over the main exercise days, the participants are challenged to apply their training and integrate their skills to conduct recons, dismounts, attacks and defensive operations as one interoperable fighting force.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to be trained here,” said Radvilas. “Being able to learn from our partners and understand them is very important for us.”

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All information regarding non-federal, third party entities posted on the HDIAC website shall be considered informational, aimed to advance the Department of Defense (DoD) Information Analysis Center (IAC) objective of providing knowledge to the Government, academia, and private industry. Through these postings, HDIAC’s goal is to provide awareness of opportunities to interact and collaborate. The presence of non-federal, third party information does not constitute an endorsement by the United States DoD or HDIAC of any non-federal entity or event sponsored by a non-federal entity. The appearance of external hyperlinks in this publication and reference herein to any specific commercial products, processes, or services by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or HDIAC. HDIAC is a DoD sponsored IAC, with policy oversight provided by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (ASD (R&E)), and administratively managed by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). For permission and restrictions on reprinting, please contact publications@hdiac.org. Any views or opinions expressed on this website do not represent those of HDIAC, DTIC, or the DoD.